[Coda]

Nothing more wrong with the core game than there is wrong with pinball -- I didn't come up with the idea on my own; there's a long history of pinball giving you free retries if the ball goes straight down the drain.

I almost didn't put it in -- it was an off-the-cuff "oh, huh, that would actually be really easy to implement" while I was putting in the life counter. The main reason I decided on it was to make it easier for new players to get the feel for how the controls work. A secondary reason was because the game is supposed to be roughly equivalent in fairness to the crane game, and so I don't want players to feel cheated by missing the first platform.

EDIT:

Obsidian, the height of the jump is totally controllable, just like Mario -- you let go of the button, you immediately zero your vertical velocity and start falling.

Hero, I'm wondering about your computer too, if the controls feel so insensitive that you can't jump when it's going the normal speed.

I'll... see about adding reverse-gravity on a different button. I really don't like the idea, but everyone is complaining about it.